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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Untappd Potential

Beer is nothing if not a social beverage. Whether served alone or with good food, beer is in the social mix. It seems only natural then, that as socializing has moved into the virtual & digital world that our beverages of choice would follow. Well, despite advertising, there is still no app for delivering a cold one to your phone or mobile device, but the social aspects of beer has made the leap.

Untappd, available for both IOS and Android devices, is a neat free little app that allows you to interact with your fellow beer drinking compatriots from either across the room or across the ocean. The app allows you to “Drink Up” and check into your current beer you have been enjoying by either looking them up in a database or if not available by inputting something new. You then can rate and comment on your discovery. By logging in with your Twitter or Facebook credentials, you can automatically share those thoughts with your online friends. You can also add a new set of friends and followers on Untappd. It takes a foursquare approach to location, allowing you to check into various venues where you are drinking your ale or beer of choice.

Brian’s favorite feature is the set of recommendations that are generated based on what others are drinking and what you have entered into the app. Broken down into Macro, Micro and Craft brews, he found the suggestions to be interesting and tasty. You can also choose between local and global to help narrow or broaden ones perspective. Well thought out and well executed.

Skye has been using Untappd now for several weeks and it has become an enjoyable addition to his beer drinking experience for several reasons. One of the things he really enjoys about the app is the ability to build a “Wish List” of beers. See a beer a friend or another person is enjoying, boom, you can quickly add it to the wish list. While that is cool, the real fun for Skye has been the badges that can be unlocked. By doing certain things, going certain places, or drinking various styles or amounts of beers you unlock different badges. For example, the Beer Connoisseur badge is unlocked by drinking 5 different beers from 5 different countries. Another is Brewery Loyalist, enjoying 10 beers from the same brewery in 30 days. These badges focus my drinking experience and then he starts working towards unlocking them (This is one of Skye’s little compulsions rearing its head again.)

Available in either English or Spanish, Untappd does require the user to be at least 17 years or older to download. (Gee, imagine that.) Last update was 22 December 2011 with an average of 4 stars for 100 ratings. Another review of the app and little bit of background on the company are offered on Crunchbase.